Wednesday, 27 December 2017

A look back: Orff's Carmina Burana from Damascus

I came across this video by accident. Looking for an account on YouTube of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in the composer's version for choir, soloists, two pianos and percussion, I found this video which was recorded in Damascus in 2011. It isn't perfect, but it is a touching tribute to the vibrant musical life that was possible before the current conflict.

The pianists are Evgeniy Avramenko and Marat Gubaidullin, conducted by Nouri Al-Reihbany with the choir of the Higher Institute of Music, Damascus, recorded at Damascus Opera House in April 2011

Quickening:

Songs by Robert Hugill to texts by English and Welsh poets now available from Amazon

four delicate, sensitive settings of Ivor Gurney, drawing performances of like quality. - it is Rosalind Ventris’s viola, weaving its way around and between the voice and William Vann’s piano, that is most beguilingGramphone magazine Jan 2018